Mexican-American War

When America was a relatively new nation, they were very hungry for power and land, and that is what caused the Mexican-American War. Both Mexico and America were pretty new nations, however America felt that the Mexicans were inferior to them, so they thought that they deserved more land. The land that America wanted the most was Texas, which is right on the border of Mexico and America. At the time however, it was mainly owned by Mexico, and lots of Americans would go to that land and not obey Mexico’s laws. This caused a lot of conflict, and an up rise in Sam Houston’s army. His army defeated Santa Anna, and they were forced to sign the Treaty of Velasco, which made Texas’ border Rio Grande, which was a big difference in land area. The Mexican government did not want to follow this treaty, and they wanted to fight the U.S. The slave owners really wanted to fight because it allowed more land for slaves. Texas accepted the U.S.’s annexation, and became a part of the U.S. This upset the Mexicans, so they pulled out their minister from D.C. and prepared their selves for war. President Polk did not officially start the war, but he did instigate it by setting up troops in Mexico’s borders. When a fight broke out, it sparked Polk to start the war, and it also allowed him to say that he was not the one to start bloodshed. For the war Mexico brought back exiled leader Santa Anna to rebuild their army. He gathered a 20,000-man army, however it was no match for U.S.’s army, and the U.S. ended up winning the war. Mexico had to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave the U.S. New Mexico and California. This was more than half of Mexico’s territory, which they had to give to the U.S. Even though it gave America more land, it also opened up a bigger slave market for the South. The Mexican-American War also lead into the Civil War because of the slave situation, and how to divide a slave state from a free state from the new territory acquired from Mexico.

"Mexican-American War." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

Cuban Missile Crisis

During the Cold War, be associated with communism was like say the word Voldemort at Hogwarts. So when Cuba converted from a dictatorship to a communist government, they then became one of America’s biggest enemies. Before Cuba became a communist government they were run by a dictatorship that treated the lower class very poorly. This caused Fidel Castro to lead a revolution to end the dictatorship in Cuba. The rebels won with the help of Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev because he helped give the recourses that the rebels needed to overthrow the dictatorship. Khrushchev gave the rebels recourses to win because he wanted to expand the communist regime. “Castro’s anti-American stance, admiration for the successes of Soviet communism, and close geographical proximity to the United States made Cuba under his leadership an able pawn for Khrushchev to wield in the Cold War,” (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). Since America were the Soviets biggest rival, Cuba becoming a communist nation was really good for the Soviet Union because of how close Cuba was to America. Cuba becoming a communist country started the Cuban missile crisis. One of Kennedy’s main goals, now that Castro was the leader, was to overthrow Castro in the Bay of Pigs invasion, however the Americans where not successful. Not only did this cause humiliation for Kennedy and the CIA, but it also caused the people of Cuba to rally with Castro, and for Cuba to officially become a communist country. The Soviets started to send nuclear ballistic missiles into Cuba. The worst thing happened was when an American plane was shot down over Cuba. Kennedy was very close to a nuclear war, however Kennedy and Khrushchev ended the crisis by withdrawing the nuclear arms from Cuba. The Cuban missile crisis only went on for thirteen days, however it was the closet America ever came to a nuclear war.

"Cuban missile crisis." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

Cesar Chavez

While reading about Cesar Chavez, it made me think more and more of leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, etc. Like these great leaders, Chavez took the problems into his own hands, and tried to fix them. Migrant Workers played a big roll in America’s agriculture, however they were greatly unappreciated. Even though they were so unappreciated, it was extremely hard for them to strike for two reasons: “The workers did not have enough money to outlast the growers, and the growers could easily replace the striking workers with imported Mexican farm workers,” (Cesar Chavez). These migrant workers were very desperate for a job, and that’s why they got paid so little, and because there were so many people that were desperate for a job, if anyone left, the owners could easily find someone to replace them. When Chavez started his national boycott of all California table grapes, he made the same comments as all the other leaders mentioned before. He thought that the farm workers, mainly Hispanic, should make just as much as the factory workers, mainly whites. “Well, if farm workers are equal, they deserve the same protection of the law that other men enjoy,” (Cesar Chavez). He is making a very logical claim, that if they work just as hard, if not harder as the factory workers, then they should be treated just as equally. Chavez ended up winning the settlement for the table grape growers, which shows that by taking a problem into one’s own hands, can go great lengths.

"César Chávez." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

"Latinos in U.S. Society"

After studying black history for first semester, and now that I have read “Latinos in U.S. Society,” I have been starting to feel more and more ashamed for my country, and how they have been mistreating minorities for hundreds of years. The Hispanics, like the blacks, have a similar story during the mid-1850 through the end of the 20th century. The Hispanics were not brought into America because of slavery; they came to America for a better opportunity. Most of the Hispanics that came into America for a better opportunity were Mexican. After America’s victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War, the Mexicans living in the region that America gained became Americans. These Mexican-American citizens were automatically sent down to the bottom part of the economic class system, unlike the whites who remained on top. World War I opened thousands of jobs for Mexicans to work on agricultural production. However because of a postwar crisis in farm production during the early 1920’s, many Mexicans become out of work, and left with no money. When things started to look up for America during the “Roaring ‘20s,” Mexican immigration to the U.S. began to skyrocket. This caused the American population to feel very uncomfortable because of how many new immigrants were coming to their country. “…many Americans felt that people of Mexican descent represented a threat to the racial and cultural integrity of the nation, particularly because of the strength of Catholicism among Mexican immigrants.” So many Mexicans were coming into the country, which caused Americans to take this almost as a threat. Not only did they take it as a threat but this change in society frightened them, and caused them to panic. They treated the Mexicans very poorly, and the Mexicans did what the blacks did, and boycotted things like schooling because of segregation. During the Great Depression, many whites were out of work, so the U.S. sent hundreds of thousands of Mexicans back to Mexico. When World War II came around, America needed workers, so they introduced the Bracero Program to bring Mexicans back for work. This is another reason why America’s history has caused me to look down upon them because they kicked out the Mexicans when they became a “threat” to society, and then brought them back when they needed more workers. Mexican immigration is just one aspect to Hispanics relations to America; however it is one of the biggest problems today in the U.S.

"Latinos in U.S. society." American HIstory. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com.

Sincerely,

The Chosen One

Chronicles of My Quest for Knowledge on Hispanics: The Beginning

I became interested on the topic of Hispanics from Spanish class in middle school. We briefly touched on the topic, however during freshman year we really focused on the topic of immigration. I think that immigration is a very diverse topic because there are so many different sides and situations to the topic. Mexico and the topic of immigration, plays a big part in American culture however this is not the only important Hispanic topic. Countries like Cuba and Venezuela have played a huge role in American history. Because Cuba and Venezuala were, and still are Communist governments during the Cold War, they became enemies of America. Something that I like about this topic is, unlike the other topics like Immigration, Religion, and Education; the topic Hispanics, is very broad and has almost no limits to how I would like to research the topic.

The Chronicles of a Presidents Journey For Greatness

Obama’s main point throughout his speech was that soon change will come, sound familiar? In the beginning of Obama’s speech I thought he started off very strong about how America has been facing their problems since their independence, and that they have always gotten through them and eventually triumphed. He also stated how America has been continuously tested when they are down, and it has never stopped them from being a successful country. Like Obama’s election he preached that he would bring change to America, and help fix the problems that the past President brought upon America. When he did this during the election, I had full confidence in Obama, as many others in America did, that Obama would become America’s “savior.” And here we are today, and Obama is saying the same things, “soon change will come.” I think that the people of America are tired of waiting for this change, and need action. This relates to “Civil Disobedience” because in “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau talks about if there is a problem, then people should act, however Obama is not acting upon these problems. One of the things that I did like about Obama’s speech was that he addressed how political parties focus more on bashing one another than trying to work together to try to fix their problems. After seeing so many ad campaigns for different political positions, I have noticed that they are all the same, just one politician saying that his opponent is bad, and that he is better. These campaigns should be about how they will help benefit America, not how they are better than their opponent. Near the end of Obama’s speech he showed a lot of energy and motivation for America to succeed. Even though I feel that Obama has not done too much in his first year in office, he is still our president, so I am rooting for him in his goal for change, and to help fix America’s problems.

Sincerely,

The Chosen One

The Chronicles

My parents abandoned me at age four, where I was found by a pack of wolves, and raised as their own. I lived my life as a wolf, and at age fifteen I was sent into the wild to become a man. Not the forest "wild," the "wild" of civilization. And here I am today....The Chosen One